A Winding Road to Ontario

I have never been a terribly spiritual person. In fact, I have often 'poo-pooed' alternative medicines, metaphysical healing , holistic treatments, crystals and other 'way out there' things. I don't believe in Divine intervention or pre-destiny. That being said, there have been times in my life where I have found that events that were seemingly random have led me to a specific place and time for what seems to be a reason. One of the strongest feelings I of this kind that I have ever experienced was the convoluted, 7 year long series of random events and crazy decisions that led me to a dive shop in Corvallis Oregon in the summer of 1991. It was there that I met the man who would become my husband, partner and father of my children. Looking back on it, I don't really understand some of the choices I made but I can't for the life of me imagine how my life would have been like without them.

All of that leads me to the next series of events, each random in itself but looked at all together, along with the timing, leads me to believe that I was led to Lindsay Wagner's Quiet the Mind, Open the Heart Workshop in Ontario California on June 5 and 6, 2010. I have been in love with Jaime Sommers since I was 8 years old (really do I have to tell you who she is?!) I have always kept her with me as a friend even though I had not seen an episode of The Bionic Woman in over 20 years. Still, every now and then, I would do an internet search to see what was out there. Imagine my delight when I discovered last fall that full episodes were available online at www.thebionicwoman.com. From there, it was just a short hop to Lindsay's webpage for her seminars and workshops early this spring (www.lindsaywagnerinternational.com).

I do have to admit that the first time I read through the concepts on her webpage, I had my usual reaction, "New Age crap!" IAs the spring went on, I was becoming more and more depressed about my situation (go back to the previous post) and was becoming more and more desperate for a new direction. I found myself drawn back to the webpage more and more often. Although I didn't understand a word of it, I was becoming more and more curious about the ideas she presented and was starting to be convinced that it was something I needed to hear. (I will freely admit that the fact that it was coming from the woman who created my childhood hero was what sold it to me. I mean really? Would my friend Jaime be telling me this if it wasn't something that would help??) Unfortunately, there was no way I could afford to fly to California for a silly workshop (or just to meet Lindsay Wagner?) and the timing sucked.

Over the following weeks, random events started piling up. The weekend freed up. Bob's business trip got canceled. Frequent flyer miles were available. And, the most improbable of all, out of the blue, I received a custom order for dog images from a gentleman in Australia. Not only was the amount of the order the largest I had ever received but, it was just about exactly the amount I would need to pay for the workshop and hotel. Providence or coincidence, it didn't really matter much. I needed to go.

Next: A bit about the workshop experience and the ideas that led me to the following blog.

Its that time again!

Yep. I'm back. I've been doing some personal writing this summer and I have decided to share it with the 2 of you who actually read my blog. Before I post some of the letters that I have written, I need to let you all in on some background material.

I am 42 years old, married and the mother of 2 wonderful and beautiful girls, now 13 and 8 years old. I have always been active. I grew up swimming in the ocean, surfing and scuba diving. I played soccer for 35 years and played in both high school and in college. I played on rec teams, both indoor and outdoor, sometimes on 2 or 3 teams at a time, for over 20 years. I have played every sport from ice hockey to wheelchair tennis. I taught special education physical education for 17 years. I refereed quad rugby at a national level and coached youth soccer for many years.

For fun, I taught quilting , classes, ran a successful machine quilting business and made some award winning quilts. I have taught myself to be a decent photographer and I'm not a half bad cook. I spent my summers selling my art at farmers' markets and the Portland Saturday Market.

None of this is bragging. I just want you to know where I came from so you can understand where I am today. Three or four years ago, things slowly started to change. I was tired all of the time. I no longer wanted to play soccer and martial arts class that I had breezed through were becoming a challenge. Just getting through my day was becoming more than I could handle. I finally was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I gave up quilting because it hurt my back. I gave up soccer and coaching. I gave up my job and selling at the markets. After 2 years of being medicated up to my eyeballs for depression, anxiety, insomnia, pain and asthma, I began to feel that I was stuck in place and the thought of spending the next 40 or 50 years feeling like crap was overwhelming and depressing. I needed a path to a better place but I had no idea where to start looking. I was waiting for something to happen.

It did.

But you all will have to wait until my next post...

Tshirt designs

OK friends. We have new game to play. I want to grow the tshirt side of the biz. I will post a design. You all need to tell me, a) is it a good one - be honest here and b) suggest a quote for it. I'm looking for serious and funny quotes. Bonus points if you can make it about pet adoption. The best one will win a free shirt (assuming I ever get around to printing it)

So here is the first for your consideration.

Finishing it up and wrapping it together

Well friends, its only been a month since I was supposed to have written this post. I need to close this off because I have "the next great idea". Nothing motivates me to finish something more than a new project. Besides I know you (all?) have been waiting anxiously to hear how the project went.

OK. So the challenge ended without much drama. I did finally give in on the last day and hit the grocery store late after karate. It was St. Patricks Day and I only thought it was fair to get something to celebrate. Ended up with Bangers and Mash (totally ignoring the fact that the sausages were Italian and the mashers were pre-made. The soda bread was good.

So what did I learn from this experience. First, I learned that we have WAY too much food in this house! WAY! I didn't hardly make a dent in the freezer let alone the pantry. Turned out we didn't even eat all the food I bought for the week.

The most important lesson I learned from all of this is that my family relies a great deal on fresh fruits and other fresh foods. We ran out of fruit at about day 4. Milk, yogurt and bread were gone before the end of the 10 days. All of us were quite unhappy and a little lost what to eat instead. These are the staples that we depend on for breakfast, lunch and snacks. I will try to use the food we already have when money is tight and replace when things ease up but I can't ever cut it so thin that we have to deprive ourselves of these things.

Day 7 back on track

I think I slept more than I was awake today. Besides being a bit dopey, I am feeling better. I wouldn't say today was a high nutrition day but we stuck to the plan. The fresh fruit is gone except for some sad looking grapefruits which the kids won't touch. I think they managed on Ramen and toast. For dinner I pulled out a chicken pie I had put away several months ago. It went well with the cake and dark chocolate frosting Jeanne found in the back of the pantry.

DAY 6 - FAIL!!!

I hate to admit it friends (or friend? anyone? Beuller?) but today was a complete failure. First, in my defense, I want to say that Cadbury eggs are only available for a short time!

It was kind of a crazy day where we went from swimming lessons to gymnastics to a backhandspring clinic to the teens martial arts test. I knew lunch was going to be an issue and I was in no shape to plan ahead after another bad night so, when I stopped for cough medicine, I got the girls some "sale" Lunchables and water (and a big bottle of that amazing elixer Pepsi for myself).

Had my heart set on tacos so we started on that as soon as we got home. Wouldn't you know it, I have enchilada seasoning, chili seasoning, pot roast, Sloppy Joe, borscht and some Indonesian rice seasoning, No taco. Sent the girls to Walgreens with my last $3 cash to get me some.

I made the tacos "old school". You know how your mom made them before we worried about fat? They had that thick orange stuff dripping from them? Lots of cheese. The meat wasn't 7% ground beef and I didn't rinse it either. And you know what??? IT WAS GOOD!

I wonder what we have hiding out in the back of the candy drawer......?

Day 5

Either this is too easy or I am too sick to notice what the kids are up to. Served spaghetti tonight. Quick and easy. I am just wishing there was some more ice cream. That would be nice.